Themes: Home From the War, Living With Disability, Fighting the System
Main Cast: Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, Kyra Sedgwick, Willem Dafoe, Brian Larkin
Release Year: 1989
Country: US
Run Time: 145 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The second of three films by co-writer/director Oliver Stone to explore the effects of the Vietnam War (Platoon and Heaven and Earth are the others), Born On The Fourth Of July tells the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), a patriotic, All-American small town athlete who shocks his family by enlisting with the Marines to fight in the Vietnam War. Once he is overseas, however, Kovic's gung-ho enthusiasm turns to horror and confusion when he accidentally kills one of his own men in a firefight. His downfall is furthered by a bullet wound that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. He returns home, spends an appalling, nightmarish stint in a veterans' hospital, and follows an increasingly disillusioned and fragmented path that ultimately leaves him drunk and dissolute in Mexico. However, Kovic somehow turns himself around and pulls his life together, becoming an outspoken anti-war activist in the process. The film is long but emotionally powerful; many consider it Stone's best work and Cruise's best performance. Both were nominated for Oscars, as was the film itself, but only Stone, who co-wrote the film with Kovic from the latter's book, won for Best Director. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
Review
Much of modern America's understanding of the Vietnam War has been shaped by films, not the least of which being Oliver Stone's Platoon. In Born on the Fourth of July, Stone revisits the topic to show us the damage the war did back home. Aiding him is Tom Cruise, whose powerful performance as real-life veteran Ron Kovic earned him the right to never again be thought of as "just a pretty face." Both were nominated for Oscars for work which many claimed was the best of their careers; Stone took home the Best Director trophy. Based on the autobiography of Kovic, the film is a brutally honest account of how the devastation of war extends far beyond the battlefield. In our somber hindsight, we may have less ideological, patriotic innocence than the all-American Kovic at the start of the movie -- but also like Kovic, we certainly don't have much left by the film's end. Stone brilliantly portrays the nowhere-to-turn rage of the Vietnam Vet: angry at the war, angry at the military, yet often hated by those who feel the same way but have never worn a uniform. Like Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July is a historical drama that truly merits the word "important," the kind of film that future generations should watch so as to never forget their past. Despite its pain, however, the film is inspirational, a story of one man's triumph over hate, self-pity and his own personal demons. By rising above his own hardships to make certain the nation recognized and remembered its mistakes, Kovic proves he's still an all-American boy after all. ~ Matthew Doberman, All Movie Guide
Jerry Levine - Steve Boyer; Josh Evans - Tommy Kovic; Jamie Talisman - Jimmy Kovic; Anne Bobby - Susanne Kovic; Frank Whaley - Timmy; John Getz - Marine Major; David Warshofsky - Lieutenant; Rocky Carroll - Willie; Cordelia Gonzalez - Maria Elena; Tony Frank - Mr. Wilson; Jayne Haynes - Mrs. Wilson; Bill Allen - Platoon; Melvin Allen - Himself; Daniel Baldwin - Vet; Stephen Baldwin - Billy Vorsovich; William Baldwin - Platoon; Cody Beard - Young Danny; Peter Benson - Patient; Tom Berenger - Recruiting Sergeant; Claudio Brook - [Vietnam]; Claude Brooks - Platoon; R.D. Call - Chaplain; Robert Camilletti - Tommy Finnelli; Reg E. Cathey - Speaker; Frank Cavestani - Vet; Eagle-Eye Cherry - Vet; Holly Marie Combs - Jenny; Peter Crombie - Undercover Vet; John del Regno - Friend; Edith Diaz - Madam; John Falch - Corpsman; Markus Flanagan - Doctor; Corky Ford - Marvin; John Galt - Fat Republican; Jason Gedrick - Martinez; Erika Geminder - Young Patty; Frank Girardeau - Agent; Abbie Hoffman - Strike Organizer; Elizabeth Hoffman - Passerby; Lucinda Jenney - Passerby; Jodi Long - Jane the Reporter; Ivan Kane - Villa Vet; Wayne Knight - Official; Samantha Larkin - Patty Kovic; Andrew Lauer - Vet; Ed Lauter - Legion Commander; James LeGros - Platoon; Damien Leake - Patient; Bruce MacVittie - Patient; Rick Masters - Man; Gale Mayron - Friend; Annie McEnroe - Passerby; Jack McGee - Democratic Delegate; John C. McGinley - Official; Sean McGraw - Young Donna's Father; Byron Minns - Platoon; Willie Minor - Eddie; Norma Moore - Massapequa Mom; Kevin Harvey Morse - Jackie Kovic; Mark Moses - Doctor; Billie Neal - Nurse Washington; David Neidorf - Patient; J.R. Nutt - Young Tommy; Richard Panebianco - Joey Walsh; Chris Pederson - Aide; Begonia Plaza - Charlie's Whore [Villa Dulce]; Jessica Prunell - Young Donna; Paul Sanchez - Patient; Tom Sizemore - Vet; Beau Starr - Man; Mike Starr - Man; Sean Stone - Young Tommy; Brian Tarantina - Vet; Lili Taylor - Jamie Wilson [Georgia]; Jenna von Oÿ - Young Susanne; Christopher Walker - Aide; Jake Weber - Donna's Boyfriend; Michael Wincott - Vet; Dale Dye - Infantry Colonel; Ron Kovic - Veteran at Parade (uncredited); Joseph P. Reidy - Student Organizer; Oliver Stone - News Reporter; Alan Toy - Paraplegic; Lane R. Davis - Young Steve; Richard Poe - Frankie; Paul Abbott - Platoon; Philip Amelio - Young Billy; Real Andrews - Vet; Lisa Barnes - Friend; Ryan Beadle - Ballplayer; Edie Brickell - Folksinger; David Carriere - Miami Hippie; SaMi Chester - Aide; Michael Compotaro - Wilson; Amanda Davis - Baby Patty; Vivica A. Fox - Hooker; Dan Furnad - Corpsman; Geoff Garza - Young Radical; Fred Geise - Corpsman; Richard Grusin - Coach; Michael Smith Guess - Platoon; Greg Hackbarth - Corpsman; Richard Haus - Recruiting Sergeant; David Herman - Patient; Michelle Hurst - Reporter; Ed Jupp, Jr. - Villa Vet; Jason Klein - Young Timmy; Elbert Lewis - Cab Driver; Richard Lubin - Patient; William Mapother - Platoon; Kevin McGuire - Paraplegic; Michael McTighe - Danny Fantozzi; Christopher W. Mills - Platoon; Chip Moody - TV Anchor; Liz Moore - Fat Lady at Parade; Lorraine Morin-Torre - Passerby; Stacey Moseley - Young Donna's Friend; Pamela S. Neill - Woman; Karen Newman - Whore; Ken Osborne - Paraplegic; Kristel Otney - Woman; Jimmy L. Parker - Vet; Ellen Pasternack - Neighbor; Anthony Pena - Bartender; Chuck Preiffer - Secret Service Agent; John Pinto - Young Joey; Melinda Ramos Renna - Bar Maid; Eduardo Ricardo - Cab Driver; Keri Roebuck - Woman; Sergio Scognamiglio - Patient; Michael Sulsona - Villa Vet; Bob Tillotson - Truck Driver; Norm Wilson - Patient; Harold Woloschin - Umpire; Joy Zapata - Neighbor; William Wallace - Agent; Bob Gunton - Doctor; Ben Wright - Platoon; Don "The Dragon" Wilson - Corpsman; William Hubbard Knight - Chief Cop; Michael Miller - Neighbor; Seth Allen - Young Tommy
Credit
Richard L. Johnson - Art Director, Victor Kempster - Art Director, A. Kitman Ho - Co-producer, Oliver Stone - Co-producer, Judy Ruskin - Costume Designer, Oliver Stone - Director, David Brenner - Editor, Joe Hutshing - Editor, John Williams - Composer (Music Score), Sharon Ilson - Makeup, Gordon J. Smith - Makeup, Bruno Rubeo - Production Designer, Robert Richardson - Cinematographer, Joseph P. Reidy - Producer, Clayton Townsend - Producer, Derek R. Hill - Set Designer, William A. Purcell - Special Effects, Gregory H. Watkins - Sound/Sound Designer, Ron Kovic - Screenwriter, Oliver Stone - Screenwriter, Dave Freeman - Screenwriter, Ron Kovic - Book Author
Born on the Fourth of July was written in Santa Monica, California during the fall of 1974 in exactly one month, three weeks and two days.[1] It tells the story of Kovic's life growing up in Massapequa, New York, joining the United States Marine Corps right out of high school, going to Vietnam for two tours of duty, getting shot, finding himself paralyzed and wheelchair bound, and eventually starting a new life as a peace activist.
"I wrote all night long, seven days a week, single space, no paragraphs, front and back of the pages, pounding the keys so hard the tips of my fingers would hurt. I couldn't stop writing, and I remember feeling more alive than I had ever felt. Convinced that I was destined to die young, I struggled to leave something of meaning behind, to rise above the darkness and despair. I wanted people to understand. I wanted to share with them as nakedly and openly and intimately as possible what I had gone through, what I had endured. I wanted them to know what it really meant to be in a war — to be shot and wounded, to be fighting for my life on the intensive care ward — not the myth we had grown up believing. I wanted people to know about the hospitals and the enema room, about why I had become opposed to the war, why I had grown more and more committed to peace and nonviolence." — Ron Kovic, on writing his autobiography.[1]
Differences with the film adaptation
Ron Kovic is shown to have confessed his supposed role in the Marine Corporal's accidental death to the deceased man's sympathethic parents and widowed wife, who admits that she cannot find it in her heart to forgive him, but God might do so. In reality, this meeting never happened, but director Stone admits this was done to add to the inner conflict Kovic was going through and to give him some closure.[2]
Kyra Sedgwick's character of Donna, Ron's on-screen high school sweetheart, never existed and did not inspire him to become an anti-war activist. The film portrays Kovic watching her protest after the Kent State Shootings and get beaten up by police. Although Kovic did not witness the protest in person, he nevertheless did watch the event on television, and the memoir states that he was outraged by the treatment of the protestors, much like his feelings towards the treatment of his fellow veterans.[3]
